Published: Thursday, August 8, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, August 7, 2013 at 11:20 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | EKJ Tax Service owner and substitute teacher Earnestine Young has announced her candidacy for the District 1 seat of the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education.

Facts

Earnestine ‘Stine’ Young

Birthdate: Dec. 25, 1952Birthplace: Fort McClellanEducation: Bachelor of arts degree in business administration from Stillman College, 1995; master of arts degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix, 2004; completed master’s program in education at the University of West AlabamaOccupation: Owner, EKJ tax serviceOther employment history: Substitute teacher with Tuscaloosa City Schools; 15 years with U.S. governmentPolitical background: First-time candidateWebsite/email address: www.earnestineyoung.com; Young5149@yahoo.com

The District 1 seat is now held by James Minyard.

Young, a 60-year-old Anniston native who’s lived in Tuscaloosa for the past 19 years, said she’s running for school board because she believes she can do more to turn around the lives of students in her district as a board member.

“I live in close proximity to McKenzie Court housing projects and I’ve seen so many children in the streets, so much drug and gang activity going on,” Young said. “I got in a car accident and wasn’t working for a while so I said let me get out and see what I can do to help the children. So I started the nonprofit, Jobs MOM (Making Opportunities Meaningful) Corp., in 1999 to help them get jobs and get their GEDs.

“Therefore, I know what goes on,” she said. “I’ve laughed with these kids, I’ve cried with them and been involved in their lives.

“When the candidacy came up, I was encouraged by people in this district to run because nothing was being done to help their children. I want to make a difference, so I asked myself, ‘Why not?’ ”

If elected, Young said she’ll focus on decreasing the dropout rate, decreasing the student-to-teacher ratio and increasing parent involvement.

“We have a number of children in this community who have dropped out, which has caused our crime to increase because they have nothing else to do,” she said.

Young said she has been a substitute teacher in classes with between 25 and 30 students. She said smaller classroom sizes are a must if teachers are going to be effective.

“It’s hard to manage classes with that many students and teach them the way they should learn,” she said.

Young said accepting sparse parental involvement isn’t going to work anymore. She said if parents won’t come to the schools, then the schools need to go to the parents.

“We may can do something in the community,” she said. “We can have workshops there where we can work with the parents by meeting them where they’re at, since people say it’s too hard to work with them. We have to make sure we understand why parents are not involved and work on those issues that are keeping them from being involved.”

Young has two children, ages 33 and 30, and one grandson who is 7. Her grandson was a student at Central Elementary but is now enrolled at University Place Elementary School.

<p>TUSCALOOSA | EKJ Tax Service owner and substitute teacher Earnestine Young has announced her candidacy for the District 1 seat of the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education.</p><p>The District 1 seat is now held by James Minyard.</p><p>Young, a 60-year-old Anniston native who's lived in Tuscaloosa for the past 19 years, said she's running for school board because she believes she can do more to turn around the lives of students in her district as a board member.</p><p>“I live in close proximity to McKenzie Court housing projects and I've seen so many children in the streets, so much drug and gang activity going on,” Young said. “I got in a car accident and wasn't working for a while so I said let me get out and see what I can do to help the children. So I started the nonprofit, Jobs MOM (Making Opportunities Meaningful) Corp., in 1999 to help them get jobs and get their GEDs.</p><p>“Therefore, I know what goes on,” she said. “I've laughed with these kids, I've cried with them and been involved in their lives. </p><p>“When the candidacy came up, I was encouraged by people in this district to run because nothing was being done to help their children. I want to make a difference, so I asked myself, 'Why not?' ”</p><p>If elected, Young said she'll focus on decreasing the dropout rate, decreasing the student-to-teacher ratio and increasing parent involvement.</p><p>“We have a number of children in this community who have dropped out, which has caused our crime to increase because they have nothing else to do,” she said.</p><p>Young said she has been a substitute teacher in classes with between 25 and 30 students. She said smaller classroom sizes are a must if teachers are going to be effective.</p><p>“It's hard to manage classes with that many students and teach them the way they should learn,” she said.</p><p>Young said accepting sparse parental involvement isn't going to work anymore. She said if parents won't come to the schools, then the schools need to go to the parents.</p><p>“We may can do something in the community,” she said. “We can have workshops there where we can work with the parents by meeting them where they're at, since people say it's too hard to work with them. We have to make sure we understand why parents are not involved and work on those issues that are keeping them from being involved.”</p><p>Young has two children, ages 33 and 30, and one grandson who is 7. Her grandson was a student at Central Elementary but is now enrolled at University Place Elementary School.</p><p>Reach Jamon Smith at jamon.smith@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0204.</p>